Greek cruises: to the birthplace of the Olympic Games

The ancient site of Olympia merits a cruise excursion, finds James Bishop –
but it requires a vivid imagination and a good guide.

The approach of the London Olympics was an excuse to explore the origins of the Games, which date back to Greece more than 2,700 years ago. As some 500 cruise ships call on that country every year it was not difficult to find one that included an excursion to Olympia, and we settled on a week’s voyage along the Aegean and Adriatic. This cruise offered a day excursion to Olympia, as well as to the islands of Santorini and Corfu, and to Turkey (for Ephesus), Croatia (to see what had happened to Dubrovnik), and finally to Italy (to marvel again at the glories of Venice).

The ship we chose was the Regent Seven Seas Mariner, which, together with its sister ships Voyager and Navigator, must be among the most luxurious smaller cruise ships currently afloat. Mariner takes a maximum of 700 passengers, the majority of whom are invariably American, though Europeans are becoming increasingly aware of her attractions.

To reach Olympia we sailed to the fishing port of Katakolon, which is close to where the Games originated in 776 BC. The ancient site is huge and plentifully supplied with reconstructed pillars and the fallen remnants of what were once the grandest of buildings, of which the finest must have been the Temple of Zeus, but a vivid imagination and the eloquence of a guide are required to bring them back to life.

The Games were originally held in the sacred grove known as the Altis, and it was here that the first gymnasium and palaestra were built to house the athletes during their training, provide them with changing rooms and the arenas where they competed (one race was run in full armour). Only men were permitted in this area, but it is recorded that one woman disguised herself as a man to support her son. When her identity was revealed it was ordered that all supporters and trainers should appear naked, as the athletes were (as displayed in so many amphora and reliefs in the Museum of History of the Olympic Games in Antiquity, which was opened after the Athens Olympics in 2004).

One cannot help wondering whether today’s athletes could achieve the times they do if they were compelled to run naked. Perhaps the place to try would be the stadium, which was added to Olympia as the Games became more popular.

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Entered through a Roman archway (originally a tunnel), the stadium comprises a wide track excavated during the Second World War, apparently on the orders of Adolf Hitler – its track proves irresistible to many of today’s visitors, who set off at great speed but invariably flag before reaching the finishing line. One disappointment was the site where the Olympic flame is lit: there is virtually nothing there, not even a gas burner.

Just as memorable was Kusadasi, in Turkey, where our guide was the English archaeologist Adrian Saunders. His enthusiasm swept us through nearby Ephesus, one of the best-preserved classical cities in Europe. Starting with the traditional bath house (visitors were assumed to be in need of a scrub after their journey), we moved into the upper agora, the city’s legislative district, and the Prytaneum, where once stood a temple and giant statue of Artemis, the Greek goddess of fertility. Adrian drew our attention to a rough piece of ancient graffiti which read “If anyone p----- here Hecate [the three-headed goddess of witches] will be very cross.”

After the tour there was just time for a quick visit to the neighbouring town of Selçuk, where the Ephesus museum is housed. Here are to be found many of the artefacts recovered from the old city, including part of a huge statue of the Emperor Domitian, a collection of gladiators’ weapons, some of the jewellery and other items excavated and, in a discreetly darkened case, an effigy of the phallic god Priapus. A group of young girls stood in front of the case, reluctant to move until a helpful young man stepped forward to press the button that lit up the exhibit. He was rewarded with much giggling.

The approach into the ominously deep caldera of Santorini, formed initially by the massive volcanic eruption that hit the island in about 1630 BC and virtually wiped out its Minoan civilisation, retains its rather sinister atmosphere. It’s surrounded by sheer cliffs on top of which whitewashed houses cling precariously to the surrounding pumice.

To get up to the capital, Firá, you have to take a cable-car, a mule, or walk, and having done that you may well decide that your best option is to stay there, explore the museums and galleries, the shops, bars and restaurants, many with great views across the bay. This is what we did, sitting in a restaurant watching the wind stir up white horses across the water way below. Less successful was our decision to order a traditional Greek lunch – one meatball (without the gravy) proving more than enough.

Whitewashed houses on the cliffs of Santorini(photo: Alamy)

Our next port of call was Corfu where some of us decided to remain on board, justifying it to ourselves, as we swam leisurely in the ship’s good-sized pool, on the grounds that we had already had three quite hard-working days and faced another next day when we sailed into Dubrovnik, in Croatia.

It was hard to know what to expect in Dubrovnik. We knew the city had suffered following the break-up of Yugoslavia, but were happy to discover that life has returned to normal. The ramparts and old harbour remain intact, as do the main sites within the city walls, including the baroque Church of St Blaise, Dubrovnik’s patron saint. There are now few signs of the ordeal this celebrated pearl of the Adriatic was put through, and visitors are back in force.

On our way up the Adriatic towards Venice, our final port of call, we passed the tiny island of Vis, which during the Second World War was used by Marshal Tito as his hideout for the Yugoslav partisans. Churchill sent Royal Marines, motor-torpedo boats and RAF aircraft to the island in 1943, which became a base for attacks on German shipping.

The Nazis never discovered where these attacks came from, always suspecting that there was a British aircraft carrier lurking somewhere in the Adriatic. Earlier this year British veterans of the campaign paid their last organised visit to the island.

Venice, most exciting of landfalls (photo: Alamy)

And so to Venice. Our captain, Felice Patruno, urged us to be on deck to witness the passage through the lagoon, which he described as second only to Sydney in all the landfalls he had made. To us Venice seemed, with its gradual transformation of mud banks and old fishing huts into visions of increasingly grand domes, campaniles, churches and waterside palaces, the most exciting of landfalls. Sadly we had only half a day to reacquaint ourselves of Venice’s amazing qualities, but it was long enough to remind us, together with some of our other on this cruise experiences, of what humankind is capable.

GETTING THERE

Regent Seven Seas Cruises (023 8068 2289; rssc.co.uk) has an identical seven-night voyage on Seven Seas Mariner (48,075 tons, eight decks, 700 passengers) departing from Athens on July 20 and overnighting in Venice on July 26, with flights available to and from UK; from £1,999.

Mariner also has a 10-night cruise from Istanbul, departing on October 20 and calling at Ephesus, Santorini, Athens, Katakolon (Olympia), Corfu, Kotor (Montenegro), Dubrovnik, Umbria (Italy), and overnighting in Venice on October 29. Prices, including flights, from £3,589.

Seven Seas Voyager offers a seven-night cruise from Rome, departing on October 24 and including Sorrento (Italy), Taormina (Sicily), Olympia, Santorini, Ephesus and a final overnight in Istanbul (Turkey), with flights to and from the UK; from £2,199.

Another voyage, Pearls of the Black Sea, also on the Queen Elizabeth, leaves Venice on September 30 and calls at Olympia, Mykonos, Istanbul, Yalta and Odessa (Ukraine), Nessebar (Bulgaria), Ephesus, Santorini and Athens (arriving October 12); from £1,529, including flights.

Another Cunard ship, the Queen Victoria (90,000 tons, 12 decks, 1,990 passengers), offers two cruises this year with Olympia visits. The first, Adriatic Discovery, departs from Southampton October 3, and calls at Seville (Spain), Olympia, Corfu, Split (Croatia), Venice, Dubrovnik and Málaga (Spain), returning to Southampton on October 19; from £1,499.

Cunard's Queen Victoria offers two cruises to Olympia this year (photo: AFP)

The second Queen Victoria voyage, also a no-fly cruise, departs from Southampton November 22 and calls at Vigo (Spain), Palma (Majorca), Valletta (Malta), Rhodes, Alexandria (Egypt), Cairo (from Port Said, Egypt), Athens, Olympia, Málaga and returning to Southampton on December 13; from £1,959.

– Royal Caribbean (0844 493 4022; royalcaribbean.co.uk) has two Greece 10-night fly/cruises on Grandeur of the Seas – Vision Class (78,000 tons, 11 decks, 2,435 passengers), the first departing from Venice on September 14 and calling at Split, Corfu, Chania (Crete), Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Olympia and returning to Venice September 24; from £1,809, including flights. The second voyage departs on October 5 and has the same ports of call, returning to Venice on October 15, and the same prices.

– Voyages of Discovery (0844 822 0800; voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk) offers a 14-night Adriatic and Aegean Odyssey cruise on Discovery (20,186 tons, eight decks, 650 passengers), departing from the UK by air on October 5 and joining Discovery in Dubrovnik. It sails to Pula (Croatia), Venice, Koper (Slovenia), Hvar (Croatia), Kotor (Montenegro), Durrës (Albania), Itea (Greece), Olympia, Athens, Canakkale (Turkey), arriving in Istanbul on October 18 and departing by air on the following day to return to the UK; from £1,849, including flights and prepaid airport taxes. Cruise can be extended from Istanbul to include a Black Sea voyage, ending at Istanbul on October 30.

GETTING AROUND

Most cruises have a choice of well-organised shore excursions at each port of call. It is advisable to book, after checking whether the ship docks in the harbour or whether tenders have to be used to go ashore (this can be difficult for those with disabilities). Additional charges are usually made (though Regent’s excursions are generally included in the price), and these can add significantly to the overall cost of your cruise.

THE BEST EXCURSIONS

OLYMPIA

Katakolon, which is where ships dock for visits to Olympia, is a small fishing port and this ancient archaeological site, one of the largest in Greece, is its only essential excursion. The original site of the Games for more than a millennium, it is today a mass of classical ruins, but it retains a remarkable atmosphere, largely provided by the sacred precinct of Altis, where the Games first took place. Huge pillars scattered everywhere hint at the dimensions of the Temple of Zeus, but it is the racetrack of the stadium and its surrounds you will probably remember.

EPHESUS

One of several attractive excursions that can be made from the port of Kusadasi, but the essential one for anyone who has not seen this well-preserved classical city (much still remains to be excavated). Its main attractions are the library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian, and the astonishing terraced houses which are still being excavated but which already show how some of the well-off Romans were able to live. Be certain to visit the Ephesus Museum in the neighbouring town of Selçuk.

SANTORINI

Make sure you are on deck for the ship’s arrival in Santorini. The approach across the caldera, the deep crater resulting from the massive volcanic eruption of about 1630 BC, retains, at least on a quiet day, a rather sinister ambience. Getting ashore usually requires tenders; from the harbour you can, in summer, take a cable car, otherwise it’s a mule or a walk up 580 steps. But the view across the bay and the town’s museums, shops and restaurants will reward your effort.

DUBROVNIK

Clearly recovered from the ravages it suffered following the break-up of Yugoslavia, the walled city retains a charm that once earned it the sobriquet of the pearl of the Adriatic. It attracts huge numbers of tourists, and if you are not in an organised party be prepared to adjust your movements to sidestep those who are.

VENICE

If it’s your first visit, stay on after the cruise if you can. Otherwise, among other things, take vaporetto (water bus) 1 or 82 along the Grand Canal, explore after dark and make plans to come back.